🚀 go-pugleaf

On Sun, 31 Oct 2004 10:31:40 GMT, "Jane" <jane4536@hotmail.com> wrote:

>
>"Sallie Smith" <ssmith@juno.com> wrote in message 
>news:B0Kgd.585$vB.175@trnddc03...
>> FBI investigating how Halliburton got contracts
>>
>> By JOHN SOLOMON
>> The Associated Press
>>
>> WASHINGTON - The FBI has begun investigating whether the Pentagon 
>> improperly awarded no-bid contracts to Halliburton Co., seeking an 
>> interview with a top Army contracting officer and collecting documents 
>> from several government offices.
>>
>> The line of inquiry expands an earlier FBI investigation into whether 
>> Halliburton overcharged taxpayers for fuel in Iraq, and it elevates to a 
>> criminal matter the election-year question of whether the Bush 
>> administration showed favoritism to Vice President Dick Cheney's former 
>> company.
>>
>> FBI agents this week sought permission to interview Bunnatine Greenhouse, 
>> the Army Corps of Engineers' chief contracting officer who went public 
>> last weekend with allegations her agency unfairly awarded KBR, a 
>> Halliburton subsidiary, no-bid contracts worth billions of dollars for 
>> work in Iraq, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
>>
>> Greenhouse's most serious allegation is that in February 2003, before the 
>> Iraq war started, the Army Corps decided to go with Halliburton for a 
>> no-bid contract on oil infrastructure and field repairs, if needed. 
>> Greenhouse objected to the presence of a Halliburton official in the room 
>> during planning and said it was wrong to give the firm a five-year 
>> emergency contract, instead of a more standard one-year contract.
>>
>> Also, among the evidence cited in her complaint was an internal 2003 
>> Pentagon e-mail that says the Iraq contract "has been coordinated" with 
>> Cheney's White House office.
>>
>> Asked about the documents, Greenhouse's lawyers said Thursday their client 
>> will cooperate but wants whistle-blower protection from Pentagon 
>> retaliation.
>>
>> "I think it (the FBI interview request) underscores the seriousness of the 
>> misconduct, and it also demonstrates how courageous Ms. Greenhouse was for 
>> stepping forward," said Stephen Kohn, one of her attorneys.
>>
>> FBI agents also recently began collecting documents from Army offices in 
>> Texas and elsewhere to examine how and why Halliburton, a Houston-based 
>> oil services conglomerate, got the no-bid work.
>>
>> "The Corps is absolutely cooperating with the FBI, and it has been an 
>> ongoing effort," said Army Corps spokeswoman Carol Sanders.
>>
>> The FBI declined to comment Thursday, but a law enforcement official, 
>> speaking on condition of anonymity, said the investigation does not 
>> involve anyone in the White House - including Cheney's office.
>>
>> Wendy Hall, a Halliburton spokeswoman, said the company is cooperating 
>> with various investigations, but she dismissed the latest revelation as 
>> election-year politics. She noted Congress' auditing arm, the Government 
>> Accounting Office, found the company's no-bid work in Iraq was legal.
>>
>> "The old allegations have once again been recycled, this time one week 
>> before the election," Hall said. "The GAO said earlier this year that the 
>> contract was properly awarded because Halliburton was the only contractor 
>> that could do the work."
>>
>> Cheney spokesman Kevin Kellems, asked if investigators had contacted the 
>> vice president or his office about the contracts, said they had not.
>>
>> Democrats have tried to make Halliburton an election-year issue, and vice 
>> presidential candidate John Edwards quickly seized upon the latest 
>> development.
>>
>> "Good people came forward to tell the truth about these contracts because 
>> they - like the American people - know that the administration's special 
>> treatment of Halliburton was wrong," Edwards said in a statement.
>>
>> The vice president, who continues to receive deferred compensation from 
>> when he was Halliburton's chief executive in the late 1990s, has 
>> steadfastly maintained he has played no role in the selection of his 
>> former company for federal business.
>>
>> http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/nation/10043384.htm
>> 
>



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